Filii Noctis
by Cinna-216
Summary: Cara was raised as a human all her life, and that is exactly what she thought she was. Until one day some random woman decides to tell her differently, and suddenly her whole world is changing. Leaving her friends and family behind she is thrust into a world she never knew existed. Follow Cara as she ventures to Filii Noctis Credit to Casa de mi padre for her ideas and characters
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**

 _Supernatural creatures have existed since the dawn of time, and for many years they lived alongside humans, their fearsome abilities keeping them in power over the humans. Though things could not stay that way forever, soon humans had the means to finally overthrow their supernatural oppressor. The creatures of the night that once had nothing to fear were dying left and right, and soon they were forced into hiding from fear of extinction._

 _The humans that fought of these terrifying creatures continued their searches, killing all that stood in their ways until they could find no trace of the supernatural. Centuries passes and eventually the fact that monsters once inhabited the world was forgotten by most, and the common knowledge of their previous existence was passed down from generation to generation as folk lore._

 _Despite popular belief, the creatures of the night were not all killed off, they quickly went into hiding to preserve their races and now most live in harmony to help build each other back up and fight back against those that still wish to do them harm. Unknown to most of the populace there are still those that know about the true nature of the stories told to children, and still know of the survivors of the supernatural race, they make it their mission to hunt down and kill all those who oppose the human populace._

 _Safe havens have been built all over the world for supernaturals that wish to live a peaceful life among each other. One of these safe havens known to all creatures of the night is the school of Filii Noctis, where beings all over the world send their children for safety and to learn the ways of the world so they too can one day thrive in their hidden world._

 _Cara was raised as a human all her life, and until recently that is exactly what she thought she was. Until one day some random woman decides to tell her differently, and suddenly her whole world is changing. Leaving her friends and family behind she is thrust into a world she never knew existed._

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 **Chapter 1**

Cara let out a long exaggerated sigh while tilting her head back to look up at the sky, her hand coming up to shield her squinted eyes from the harsh rays of the sun. The ten minute walk to her school had been made excruciating from the unbearable heat wave the sun had decided to throw at the populace. She was in no particular rush to be at school, but getting out of the sun greatly outweighed her disdain for being in school. She let her hand fall back to her side, pulled her pale colored backpack up on her shoulders as she continued her arduous journey to school. Glancing ahead she noticed a car passing by direction, and automatically looked in the driver's direction catching the gaze of a woman behind the wheel. She diverted her attention away to continue on her way, but stopped short when she heard the car coming to a stop behind her.

She could hear the sound of a car door opening before a woman's voice reached her ears."Calla, Calla is that you?"

Cara's eyebrow arched as she turned to face the woman, "I'm sorry, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else, I'm not Calla." She responded running a hand through her hair pushing it away from her face. The woman's eyes locking odd path of skin between her left eye and hairline that had been discolored and stood out against her pale complexion, and the fact that a patch of her hair alongside the birthmark had been stained a blood red only helped her oddities stand out more. Noticing the unwanted attention, she was quick to smooth her hair back down around her face to hide her birthmarks. "Okay, bye." She spat out discomfort rapidly wheeling up within her. She turned to leave, but only took a few hastened steps before feeling a hand wrap around her wrist.

"Hey! What are you do-?" She began whipping around to face the woman, her eyes locking with the woman's vibrant green eyes, she was unsure why but those eyes seemed to hold a certain amount of familiarity to them, like she'd seen them before possibly in a dream….or a nightmare. She cleared her mind with a subtle shake of her head, steeled her previous resolve and continued her statement, "What do you think you're doing? Let me go, I told you I'm not that person." She pulled against the hand holding onto her, and after a second the woman relinquished her grip on the young girl.

"I see, you don't know who I am." She expressed a forlorn look crossing over her expression for a moment. "So your memories haven't returned yet." She muttered chewing on the nail of her thumb, she to be talking more so to herself than actually to Cara.

"I'm sorry, what?"

The woman pulled her thumb from her mouth returning her attention to Cara, the saddened expression she sported moments ago was gone as quickly as it had come. "Let me start over. Hi, my name is Ester very nice to meet bare a striking resemblance to someone I once knew, and she's gone now. So I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Cara visibly relaxed when the woman gave her some kind of explanation, maybe she wasn't crazy after all. "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, your friend her name was Calla right?"

Ester nodded her head, "Yes, she was a beautiful kind hearted soul, I miss her everyday, so when I thought I saw her I just had no to stop. You really look so much like her, just like you could be her daughter. If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"

Cara was hesitant to respond not sure if she should even still be talking with this woman, but oddly enough she didn't feel like she was in any danger with this woman here, and those eyes she couldn't tell why, but she felt she knew them. "My name is Cara… it's um nice to meet you Mrs. Ester."

"Oh please," The woman replied waving a hand at the girl, "Just call me Ester, Mrs. makes me feel so old."

"Um, I have to go." She drawled on throwing a thumb over her shoulder in the direction she'd previously going. "I have to get to school." She began to slowly back track so she could turn and leave, but Ester held a hand out to her stopping her in her tracks.

"Wait, I really hate to impose, but would it be okay if I spoke with you again? I hate to admit that I'm being a bit selfish, you really do remind me of my friend so much, I'd just love to sit down and talk with you sometimes if at all possible." The woman pleaded with a sweet smile gracing her lips, it was hard for Cara to tell her no, but for some reason she didn't actually want to tell her that. She wanted to help this woman if she could, maybe it would help her grieve the loss of her friend, and she seemed harmless enough, right?

Cara's eyes darted around as her mouth rhythmically opened and closed as she tried to muster up the will to deny her odd request, but after a moment she found herself nodding her head and responding, "Yeah, I mean that's fine, I'd love to talk sometime, but I really have to go now before I'm late." With that said she quickly turned on her heels and darted down the sidewalk towards her school. Ignoring the sweltering heat that beat down against her back and forehead as she raced towards the building to be on time.

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 _I hope you guys enjoyed my story, constructive criticism is always welcomed._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cara ran through the doors to her school moments after the first bell rang signaling the time for students to start heading to their classes before they were late. She leaned over hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breathe. "I, need, to, get a car soon." She panted out between breathes.

A pair of black vans walked up stopping in front of her, and following his arrival a familiar voice reached her ears. "Decide to get in a morning jog in before coming to school? Since when have you been so interested in physical education?" Cara craned her neck up to see Aiden standing in front of her. She had known Aiden since they were in the fifth grade, and the two had been inseparable since they met. He was one of the few things that made going to school every day a little bearable.

"It's a long story, I'll key you in later." Cara pushed herself back up, stretching her back out in the process.

"Oh, I'm excited to hear what got you to run all the way here. Come on, we should probably get to class before we're late."

He turned and headed in the direction of their classes, and Cara followed alongside of him. She quickly tuned out as he began idly chatting about his weekend, her mind wandering back to the woman she met moments ago. ' _What was her name again? Ester, who was that woman anyway? She seemed weird.'_

"Cara…..Cara, are you even listening to me?" A voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked over to see Aiden staring intently at her. "I said have you even heard a word I was saying to you?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening."

"What's on your mind, you don't typically tune me out like this."

"Nothing big I don't think. I met this woman while I was walking, and she mistook me for someone else, which isn't weird I'm sure everybody has a doppleganger out there. The weird part comes in when she asked if she could talk to me again, basically hang out with me. And for some reason, I didn't tell her no, and I don't really know why. She seemed familiar in a way, not like I actually knew who she was, but like I'd seen her somewhere before or something." She gave a small shrug of her shoulders before continuing, "I don't know maybe I'm overthinking it, maybe I should just tell her no if I see her again. I mean she didn't get my number or anything so I doubt I'll even see her again. What do you think?" She asked turning towards him.

"Hmmm, I don't know, that's kind of weird. All I do know is that you don't have to make any decisions about it right now, you can think on it, and besides like you said it seems pretty rare that you'll see her again. So you definitely have a bit of time before you have to make any real decisions."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm thinking about it too much. I'm sorry, I should have been listening to what you were saying earlier. Enough about my issue, tell me about your weekend." The two came to a stop outside of their classrooms across the hall from each other, as he was about to respond the bell rang letting them know they needed to be in class.

"I'll tell you at lunch."

"Okay, see you in a few hours." Cara gave a small wave of her hand before disappearing into her classroom to get the day started. She slid into her usual seat in the back of the class by a window, and almost immediately her mind returned to Ester tuning out her teacher who had begun the lesson for the day. She couldn't get the thought of that woman's eyes out of her mind, determined to remember where she'd seen them before.

Cara had spent the first half of the morning absentmindedly wandering from class to class thinking of the same green eyed woman from the morning, her mind had finally exhausted itself to the point that she had become agitated whenever she thought of her name. So when the bell rang signaling that it was time to head to lunch she let out a huge sigh of relief. She followed the crowd of students as they made their way to the cafeteria.

It didn't take her long to gather up the daily slop the school had decided to serve them today, literally, Monday always meant that sloppy joes could be expected. Which weren't inherently bad, but with all the food byproducts that the school implemented, they might as well be eating mystery meat.

She made her way over to a table she knew her friends would be sitting at and slid in the seat across from Aiden, and Bree, a small hispanic girl with honey brown eyes, dark chestnut hair, and more tattoos and piercings than anybody else she knew their age. Despite all the body modification the girl had decided to add to her body, it didn't hide any of her beauty and if anything amplified it giving her a cool unapproachable edge. It was actually one of the first things that had drawn her to the girl when they'd first met two years ago, albeit her piercings were more modest back then.

"I really have to start packing a lunch on Monday's." Cara commented a grimace turning up the corner of her lips.

"You do realize you say this every Monday, and still don't do anything about it." Bree stated reaching over to poke at her food with her pencil. "Gross, I don't know how people eat this slop," she chuckled, "Get it, slop? Sloppy joe?" She glanced between her two friends who returned her look with a perplexed one of their own. "No? You guys are weird, that's funny stuff." She shrugged wiping her pencil against her jeans before returning it down to the page in front of her to continue her work.

"No, you're just usually corny." Cara replied pushing her food to the side, Aiden nodding along with her with.

Bree looked up at them long enough to roll her eyes, "Whatever," Before leaning down to fish through her bag at her feet. She pulled out a bag of cheez its and a zip locked sandwich and slid them across the table towards Cara. "Here."

Cara looked upon the food with wide eyes before grabbing it and tearing open the bag of cheez its. "I take back everything back I ever said about you."

"Wait a minute, what have you said about me?" She questioned looking up from her drawing placing her pencil back down to the table.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

Cara glanced up to see an unwanted yet familiar face approaching their table. The undisputed queen bee of the school, Olivia Johnson. She was a grade above her, and everybody knew who she was, she was gorgeous and looked like she'd walked straight out of a magazine. She was tall, always had a beautifully applied tan on, flawless windswept blonde hair cut into a bob and piercing brown eyes. Your average everyday pretty girl who peaked in high school that everyone either wanted to date, be, or be friends with. Captain of the varsity girls field and track team, she was coveted by everyone at the school.

Following close behind her was her "second in command" Grace Stanley, she was just as pretty as Olivia, if not prettier, but Olivia knew how to flaunt it a lot better than she did. Grace was a meek, sweet girl that Olivia had taken under her wing when she first came to this school, and the girl has followed her around since. Grace was pretty, but more in a traditional way. Where Olivia seemed to work for her appearance with fake tans, hair bleach, makeup, etc. Grace was pretty on her own without all that. Her skin was unusually pale like it rejected every form of UV light that came her way and was littered with freckles most noticeably on her shoulders, under her eyes, along her nose and above her right eyebrow. She was a natural redhead, the color seemingly reflecting orange in the sunlight and was much longer than Olivia's reaching closer to the middle of her back, and she had these brilliant pale green eyes that shone when the light hit them.

The pair sauntered right up to the them Olivia putting her hand on the table on the opposite side of Aiden, while Grace stood a small ways back from her. "Hello Bree, Cara," she said with a significant amount of disdain in her voice before returning her attention to him. "Hello Aiden, how are you doing this morning?" She asked running a hand through the bang of his short hair.

"I'm fine Olivia," He responded jerking his head away from her hand.

"What do you want Olivia?" Bree sounded tearing her attention away from her work.

"Oh nothing from you peasants, the only reason I ever come over here is to talk to this lovely man right here. I mean just look at him, tall, muscular, sparkling baby blues. What girl in their right mind wouldn't want him?" She ran her hands over his shoulders as she spoke, but he was quick to shrug her away.

She wasn't entirely wrong though, Aiden over the years had really grown into his own. No longer was he the awkward scrawny boy she had come to know and love. He'd really grown into his height and bulked up so he no longer looked like he would fall with a strong breeze. His scraggly deep brown hair had finally been tamed into something short, manageable, and fingerswept, and his chocolate brown eyes matched. She knew exactly why he had girls trying to get his attention at the school left and right, it was plain to see, but it agitated her to no end that Olivia could have basically any guy in this school she wanted, but just to get under her skin she constantly went after Aiden.

"Hey you ever thought that maybe he, and anyone else for that instance, doesn't want to talk to you?" Cara questioned relishing in the look Olivia had on her face.

"She's not wrong you know." Aiden chimed in.

Olivia made a grunting noise clearly perturbed by their comments. "Whatever, I'm so out of here." With a stomp of her foot she turned around and sashayed away.

It was at this time that Grace finally decided to walk up to the table and speak, a solemn expression on her face. "I'm sorry she came over to bother you all."

"It's fine, not your fault," Aiden responded, "But why are you always around her if all you're going to do is apologize behind her?"

"She may be mean sometimes, but she's my friend, and you stick by your friends right?"

"But you don't have to stick behind friends that are like that if you don't want to. You can make other friends Grace." Cara chimed in.

"I-I don't know.." Grace began but was cut off when Olivia yelled for her.

"Grace! Come on."

The girl jumped the slightest bit before stammering out, "I'm sorry I have to go." She quickly turned and raced after Olivia who was leaving the cafeteria. "Coming!"

Bree gave a shake of her head as she watched the pair leave before sounding, "I don't understand why she hangs out with her, she's way to nice for someone like her."

"Fear maybe?" Aiden guessed with a shrug of his shoulders, "I doubt if she said it Olivia would just stop being her friend without doing something in retaliation, that's not the kind of person she is."

"Fair point." Cara mused as she returned her attention to finishing her lunch.

The bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period, and Cara grabbed her bag, said goodbye to Bree, and headed into the hallway Aiden at her side. "So, you never told me what you were babbling on about this morning."

"Oh yeah! I'd nearly forgot. Guess who finally put together the game room?"

"You and your dad finished?"

"Yeah! We painted last Friday, so over the weekend we moved everything into the room and set it up. It looks amazing, you have to come see it soon. I'm so excited to break it in, we put so much work into." He exclaimed, with a smile as wide as his face.

"Are you working this weekend?"

"Nope, well I work Sunday, but that's it."

"We should see if Bree is off this Saturday so she can come too, if not I'll come over Friday after school."

"I'll see her in my next class," He proclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "I'll let you know what she says when school's over." Cara came to a stop in front of her classroom.

"Alright, I'll see you after class." She called as she watched him walk down the hallway for a moment before walking into her own class.

Much to Cara's relief the remainder of the school day when by in a blurr, and before she knew it, it was finally time to go home. Her fingers turned the dial of her locker before sliding the metal door open. Returning anything in her backpack she didn't need for the night to it, and replacing it with everything she would need.

"Cara!" She closed her locker door and looked over to see who had called out to her.

"Hey Aiden, where's Bree?"

"She already booked it, said she had to be at work right after class, what about you? On your way to work?"

Cara shook her head in response. "No I took this week off, I wanted to give some more time to my extracurricular this week, and I could really use the time to study and get ahead so I can work as much as I want to next week.. You not headed to work?"

"No, I'm off today, I go back tomorrow. Want to walk home together? We haven't been able to do that in a while."

"What you didn't drive today?"

"Nah, I've been trying to save a little money on gas, it's not like we live that far away anyways. So might as well walk when I don't have work after school."

"Well, ready to go then?" She asked slinging her bag back onto her shoulders.

"After you." He replied gesturing towards the doors. She headed for the front doors and he followed alongside of her.

"So what all did you and your dad put in the game room?" Cara asked as she pushed the doors open to the school, a hand going up automatically to shield her eyes from the sun as they adjusted. It was still hot out, but thankfully no where near as hot as this morning.

"Oh you know the normal stuff, pool table, darts, cards table, and some other things."

"Some other things like what?"

"Well my dad put a bar in the room too, but seeing as how we can't legally drink yet, it does little to nothing for us, but outside of that, you'll just have to come over to see for yourself. I wouldn't be doing it justice if I just told you what it was."

"Oh come on, don't leave me waiting like that, you know I hate cliffhangers. Just tell me."

Aiden shook his head, "No, no, no, no something as special as this must been seen with the human eye. But trust me, she's worth the wait." He grinned tapping her with his elbow. "So I'd meant to ask, where did you meet that weird lady anyway?"

Cara glanced around their surroundings before turning her head towards him, "Um I think around here actually I wasn't too far from the school."

"Huh, don't think we'll run into her again do you?"

"I doubt it, I mean that would definitely give off stalkerish vibes."

"So, have you made any decisions about what you're going to do about her?" He inquired.

"No, I thought about it most of the morning, but eventually it just made my head hurt, so I figured I could just figure out later, and like you said. There's a possibility I won't even see her again, so I may be stressing for no reason."

"Fair, well I'm around if you want to talk about it or anything."

"Yeah, I know, thanks." She responded a small smile turning up the corners of her lips.

"Anytime C, anytime."

The walk back always seems shorter than the walk to, especially when you aren't stopped by some random person. So it was no surprise that Cara's house was coming into view down the street. "This is me Ai, I'll see you tomorrow." Cara sounded as the two split paths and she continued down the street to her house, and he turned down the adjacent street to get to his own house.

"See you tomorrow," He called out as he waved her off before disappearing around the corner.

Cara walked up the front porch checking the side of the house for the car but found none. ' _They must still be at work.'_ She mused to herself as she opened the front door making sure to lock it behind herself. She walked down the hall to her room, closed the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed with a hearty sigh.

She laid there long enough to feel herself begin to fall asleep, and finally pushed herself up before she actually did. "Alright time to get some stuff done." She hasn't taken off all that time from work for nothing. She pulled her chair up to her desk, turned on the light, and started pulling materials from her backpack.

Hours tick away, and before she knows it day turns into night. She turns in her chair when she hears the door open and her mom peaks her head in to check on her. "Cara, you're still awake at his time?"

"Yeah, I was just getting caught up on some homework and studying. What time is it anyway?"

"It's nine o'clock, don't you think you can relax on the studying for night? It's getting late, you should probably go to bed soon." She pushed the door open farther and leaned against the frame.

"You're probably right," She turned back around long enough to close her books and slide everything back into her backpack. "How was work?"

"Same as always long and arduous, how was school? Anything happen today?"

"No, not really. Aiden told me that him and his dad finally finished their game room and he wants me to come see it, but other than that same as always." Cara responded deciding not to share the information about her new "friend".

"You sure? Nothing you want to talk about?"

Cara shook her head, "No, not really? Why?"

"I don't," Dana shrugged, "Mother's intuition I guess."

"Dad still at work?" She asked wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, he should be home in a few hours I think, but let me know if you want to talk about anything." She walked over to Cara and cupped her cheek affectionately, "Get some sleep, I love you." She leaned over and kissed her on the top of her head before walking back over to her door. "Goodnight."

"Night mom, love you too." When her mom closed the door behind her she got up from her chair and turned the light off before throwing herself onto the bed, she hadn't realized how tired she was until now, she didn't even have the energy to get under her covers so after kicking her shoes off she just curled up in a ball where she awaited the sleep to take her.

"" _Calla, Calla, wake up!" Calla's eyes fluttered open, and when they finally adjusted to her surroundings all she could see was black ink on white paper. The next second the book was removed from her face, and her eyes met vibrant green ones staring back at her. "You fell asleep reading again," The woman chuckled with a warm smile lighting up her eyes._

" _I couldn't help it, you did leave me alone for a while you know." Calla teased sitting up, the green eyed woman held her hand out to her, and Calla when took it she helped pull her to her feet._

" _What did you dream about?"_

" _Another life, the memory was wonderful, this time around I was an adventurer. Me, an adventurer, you wouldn't believe all of the amazing things I did, all of the things I saw, the people I met! God how I wish I had that life right now." Calla mused with a sparkle in her eye. Cara who up to this point had been watching the interaction from the eyes of Calla slipped from her body to watch on as a bystander._

 _Now that she was free to roam she got a closer look at woman in front of her. She had a warm honey skin tone, that complimented her cat like green eyes nicely, and her almond brown hair sprayed about her in thick curly tresses. She didn't look that much older than Cara was currently maybe early twenties. She looked ethnic like she could be hispanic, or possibly even Indiana, but she couldn't pin exactly what, and from her nose she had a silver ring hanging. The more she studied her, the more she began to realize that the woman standing in front of her was a younger version of Ester._

 _After studying her face, she turned to the other woman, but she had no idea who she was. Her skin was pale, and she looked like she had a bit of asian descent in her, her eyes really giving away that fact, were very dark almost black and were hidden behind large black glasses. Her hair was dark brown, dyed at the tips so they were almost white, and pulled up in a messy bun at the top of her head with her fringe framing the sides of her face. Upon closer examination she noticed the all too familiar birthmark on the side of her face that matched her own. 'What the hell?'_

" _You know you could have that life now if you wanted, it wouldn't be hard to go on an adventure, it's probably a lot safer now than it was then."_

" _True, but it does take a little fun out of it if it's not a little dangerous." Calla's face lit up and she leaned over grabbing Ester's hand in her own. "Let's do it, just you and me. Let's quit school and go traveling let's discover something, let's make something! We could do anything! Just think, we have all the time in the world to go to school, I'd much rather leave more exciting memories in my wake."_

 _Ester started laughing shaking her head as she pulled her hand free, "Okay drama queen calm down, don't go all gunho on me just because you've gotten a few of your memories back. Your life is still precious, so don't just throw it away who knows how long you will actually be here."_

 _Calla pouted the slightest bit, her expression dropping before sighing, "I know, I know, I just, I just wanted to be memorable. I just wanted someone to remember me, and if I did come back when I remember my life I wanted them to feel how I do now, I want them to be amazed at the kind of person I was. I just don't want to be forgotten in my own sea of memories."_

" _How about this, I'll never forget you? And I'll pass your story on to a friend or my kids if I ever have any so they don't forget you either. I'll always remember Calla regardless of who I meet in the future."_

 _Calla's expression lifted and a spark in her eye appeared, "Really, do you really mean it?"_

" _Of course I do, you're my friend." Calla grinned throwing her arms around Ester and holding her to her._

" _Thank you, when I go, I really hope you find me again. I know you'll find me again and I'll be waiting for you patiently." Ester wrapped her arms around her returning her hug._

" _You know I will. Alright you win, let's plan a trip, wherever you want to go."_

 _Calla jumped up excitement overtaking her as she looked at Ester, "Really, you mean it?"_

" _Yeah, let's do it." Ester nodded. Calla let out a small scream for joy before jumping onto Ester knocking the two down to the ground in a fit of laughter._

" _Ester."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _You're the best friend a girl could have."_

" _You too Calla."_ "

Cara's eyes popped open and she sat up abruptly looking around the room, when she realized she was still safe in her bedroom, her breathing started to level itself and she began to calm down. Her mind began to replay the dream in her head, she threw her legs over the side of her bed and hopped up sliding back into her desk she turned the light on and pulled a notebook from her bag. She quickly scribbled down everything that happened in the dream before it left her mind hoping it would help her make heads or tails of the situation, but by the time she'd finished she was just as confused as she had been before.

She closed the notebook with a heavy sigh, turned the light back off and returned to her bed throwing herself under the covers this time falling into a dreamless sleep.

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 _I hope you're enjoying the story so far, so be a dear and review down here._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Cara would search for Ester the next day before and after school, leaving home almost an hour earlier just to wait around in the area she'd seen her before. Then spent countless hours after school waiting to no avail. The woman did not show, nor did she show on Wednesday or Thursday. By the time Friday rolled around Cara was becoming antsy, when would she show back up? She still didn't have any real answers for her dream from the other night, but thankfully nothing strange had happened to her since that night. ' _I should have gotten her number or something, that would have helped tremendously by now.'_

"Cara!"

"Huh?" She looked over when she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Aiden standing next to her. "Yeah?"

"Uh, morning. Are you okay? I called your name like five times and you didn't hear me."

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking." She put one of her books up into her locker and closed the door when she was done.

"What's on your mind you've been acting a little spacey all week. Anything you want to talk about?"

Cara shook her head, "No, not really. I mean to say it's nothing major, just lost in thought. Wasn't paying attention to my surroundings you know, the normal stuff." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders trying to play it off. "Come on, we should probably get to class." She slung her bag onto her shoulders and watched Aiden for a moment hoping that he would just drop the subject, and after a moment when his expression finally relaxed and returned to normal she knew he had.

"Alright, if you say so, just try to come back to Earth every once in a while space cadet. Come on, I'll walk you to class." He turned and started walking down the hallway, and Cara followed closely beside him.

"Roger that, can do."

The air of silence that fell around them had begun to make Cara uncomfortable, and she wanted to say something to fill the silence, but she wasn't sure what. Finally Aiden decided he would fill the void, "So are you going to tell me what really has you spacing out like that?"

Thankfully he was talking to her, but he was asking questions she rather not answer at the moment. "I told you, it's nothing really I just have something on my mind is all."

"Something that you don't want to tell me about?" He questioned and she could almost hear the hurt in his voice.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that there's nothing to tell."

"But it's enough to make you think about it for a whole week, so it must be something minutely important."

"Ai, I just really don't want to talk about it now. Look, I'll see you at lunch okay?" Even if she wanted to tell him she couldn't, it wouldn't make sense to him, hell it didn't make any sense to her, and she didn't want to look any crazier than she felt. She hurried down the hall and slipped into her classroom without glancing back in his direction once. She made her way to her seat and slumped down in it as far as she could. "This is just great," She mused to herself. Not only could she not find this random woman that approached her, but now she was pretty sure she was hurting Aiden's feelings which is one of the last things she wanted to do. Maybe she should just stop obsessing over something she knew nothing about, maybe she should just write it off as overactive imagination, the mind was a powerful thing after all. Maybe she should just pretend none of that had happened, though the more she thought about it, the less likely either one of those scenarios seemed.

Cara spent the entirety of the morning avoiding Aiden, which wasn't inherently hard since they had no morning classes together, actually they didn't have any classes together this year so avoiding him would actually be rather easy, expect during lunch. She had opted to hide out in the photography clubs back room, no one would be there at this time. Well aside for possible members of the photography club, but they wouldn't give away her hiding spot.

She sat on the ground with her knees pulled into her chest, she'd forgotten to pack herself a lunch again, but refused to head to the cafeteria in search of food, she could wait until school was over it wouldn't be that much longer. The door opened to the room, and she didn't even bother to look assuming it was one of the other members of the club come to grab something and leave, so she was a little startled when the person walked over and stood in front of her. She looked up to see a ziplock sandwich in front of her face, "Bree?" She asked reaching for it.

"The one and only." She grinned.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I asked Aiden where you were and he said where you might be, good thing I found you, you were just going to sit in here by yourself and starve? That's kind of weird." Bree lowered herself to the ground and scooted next to Cara.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So, did you and Aiden get into a fight or something? Is that why you're hiding?"

Cara shook her head for a moment, but abruptly stopped, "Actually I don't know. Maybe? Kind of actually. I think I hurt his feelings and I didn't really mean to."

"Because he was pestering you about what's bothering you?"

"Am I really that easy to read?"

"No, we've just known you for a while, and Aiden's known you longer than I have. Eventually I caught on and could tell you had something on your mind, I'm sure he knew before I did though."

"That's a little reassuring then I guess, so why didn't you ask?"

Bree shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, I figured if you wanted to talk about it you would have told us, or at least one of us. Sometimes people just need to work things out on their own, and you seemed like you'd rather work it out on your own so I didn't pry."

"Thank you."

"No problem, you know just because I didn't ask doesn't mean I don't care. I just figured you needed your space is all. Just like he thinks you need someone to talk to."

Cara opened the ziploc bag to pick her sandwich apart. "You know I see what you're trying to do."

"If you see that then why are you in here eating lunch by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself, you're here."

"Well you were alone before I showed up smart ass."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, I just hate it when I hurt his feelings, and he wants me to do something that I don't want to do at the moment. I'm fine working it out on my own, I prefer it that way, but I know he'll just keep asking me, and when I don't tell him I know it'll hurt his feelings. So I'd rather just hide than have to find a way to divert his questions every time I see him."

"You know he'll get over it right? Sure he wants to know and be there for you, but he needs to realize that not every person functions that way sometimes people just need a bit of time to themselves, and once this is said and done with I doubt he'll harbor any negative feelings about it. Just let the situation play out, and don't hide from him. That'll probably make him feel worse than you not wanting to share a little secret with him just yet." Bree glanced up when the bell rang telling them lunch was over. "At the end of the day, he's still your best friend and that's not about to change. Try not to beat yourself up over something so small." Bree stood up and held her hand out to Cara, "Come on we should get to class before we're late."

Cara nodded before taking her hand and pulled herself up off the ground. "Thanks for coming to sit with me, I really appreciate it."

"Hey, what are friends for?" She grinned and the two left the photography room and headed for their respective classes.

With Cara's heavy heart finally lifted, the day didn't seem to drag on as long, and she found herself no longer counting down the minutes in each class. So before she even knew it, it was time to go home.

"Make sure you reread chapters ten through twelve over the weekend, and be prepared to be tested over the reading on Monday!" Their teacher Mrs. Harrison announced over the noise of the school bell. Within minutes everyone was up and out of their seats, overjoyed by the welcomed tones of the school bell letting everyone there know that they had made it through yet another week of high school. They had survived long enough to see the coveted weekend.

Cara filled out of the classroom with everyone else, and upon stepping into the sea of teenagers that awaited her in the halls, she was surprised to see Aiden standing in the middle of the hallway facing her class. His presence parting the red sea of young adults that moved to either side of the walkway to avoid running into him. He gave a sheepish smile when he noticed her leave the classroom, and she in return made her way over to him.

"Uh, hey." He began trailing off like he didn't know what to say for a moment, "Um, you ready to go?" She could see it plain as day written all over his face, just how much he was struggling to act as if nothing had happened between them, and she wasn't too sure how to respond. She should do the same and just pretend like nothing went awry earlier that morning, or should she grow up and address the situation? Either option seemed touchy, but she eventually settled on the latter one.

"Yeah, I just need to go to my locker first."

"Cool, cool," he sounded rocking back and forth on his toes. "After you." Cara headed in the direction of her locker and was taken aback when she noticed that he had not taken his usual position beside her, but instead and decided to follow a step or two behind her like when a stray dog hasn't quite decided if it does or doesn't want to follow you around yet. It quickly made her uncomfortable, and the drawn out silence that accompanied the walk only made the situation all the more unbearable. The silence continued long after she gotten to her locker, retrieved what she needed, and closed it back. She turned to Aiden who had taken to fiddling with the arms of his backpack, while his cheeks puffed out like he was amount to spew something from his mouth at any moment.

"You ready to go?" She questioned an eyebrow arching inquisitively as she studied him.

"Ye-yeah," he exhaled blowing out a quick breath of air that sounded like a motorboat. "Of course, let's uh, let's go home I guess."

Cara could basically see the proverbial steam rising from his ears like he was going to blow or malfunction at any moment. Had she known their encounter was going to be this awkward she probably would have opted to just avoid him all weekend and deal with whatever damage that may have ensued on Monday. Maybe she should still ditch him, she didn't know how she was going to endure their walk home with him acting like this. "Ooookkkayyy," She drolled on not knowing how to handle his idiosyncrasies at the moment. She started walking towards the exit, but only took a few steps before noticing that he hadn't walked up beside or, or begun to follow her. When she turned back to see what he was doing, he was standing there looking at her chewing on his lip, one of the many nervous ticks he had been displaying within the last few minutes.

"Cara," he began letting out a long sigh, "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hassled you to tell me something you didn't want to tell me, it's just I knew it was bugging you, and I wanted to help if I could, but then you didn't want to talk about it, and I felt like you did. So I don't know, maybe I just took it too far, I mean I'm not mad you don't want to tell me something. Not that it's about me being mad," He rambled on his apology quickly spiraling out of control. "Look, what I'm trying to say is I shouldn't have made you feel uncomfortable, you shouldn't feel pressured to tell me something if you don't want to, and I'm sorry."

Cara was silent for a moment as she took in the short monologue he'd prepared for her and thought of how to respond accordingly, "I'm sorry too, I know you just asked because you were worried about me, and maybe I could be a little more sensitive to that sometimes. If I promise to share all my big dark secrets with you as soon as I'm ready to, can we just bury the hatchet and never dig it up again, deal?" She asked holding her fist up in front of him, the back of her hand facing him.

He nodded, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. "Yeah, deal." He tapped his fist against hers, the back of his hand touching hers. Unlike Aiden Cara's smile didn't take over her entire face, her gesture was small, but definitely was not one to go unnoticed. Her smile mostly resided in her eyes, sure her lips tweaked themselves up a bit, but her emotions were all laid out in her eyes that squinted upwards the slightest amount and held a fond twinkle in them for him.

Aiden's eyes widened momentarily shock replacing his facial features for a few seconds before disappearing. Cara on the other hand wasn't surprised that he was bewildered for a split second. Seeing Cara smile was a once maybe even twice a month kind of ordeal as she had never been an overly emotional kind of person. When a situation did not require a response of that aptitude, she was typically stoic by nature.

"Come on, let's go home." Cara turned and headed for the door, and this time Aiden came and walked alongside of her as they exited the school. "Oh, I'd forgotten to ask is Bree coming over this Saturday?"

"You know, I'd forgotten to ask her, she's probably already at work by now I'll text her when I get home and ask, if she can't make it tomorrow, how about Sunday after I get off work? I'll be home by four and she doesn't work Sunday's."

"She probably works tomorrow knowing her, but maybe she'll get off early." She responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "Either day works for me, just let me know what we're doing."

Their conversations began to bleed into each other as they discussed possible plans for the weekend and homework assignments, they'd become so engrossed in their own discussion that they didn't notice a parked car along the side of the road until they'd almost walked up on it.

Aiden was the first to notice the brown haired woman leaning against the frame of a bright red newer model Toyota Corolla, and he gave a curt nod in the woman's direction whom had laid her eyes on the pair…..no whom had laid her eyes on Cara.

Cara looked over in the direction Aiden was nodding to be met with the exact woman she'd been searching for the entire week. "Ester." Cara uttered surprised to see the woman standing in front of her, relief washed over her for a millisecond before it was quickly replaced with annoyance. ' _So she shows up now that I'm finally not obsessing over needing to see her? Where was she all week? You couldn't have even dropped by on Wednesday?'_

"Call-" Ester began but quickly corrected herself as she leaned off the car to stand up straight. "No, Cara, I'm sorry. It's nice to see you again." She grinned folding her hands over each other before turning to address Aiden. "Hi, you must be a friend of hers, I'm Ester pleased to meet you."

' _Calla, she was going to call me Calla again! I heard it, I knew that woman was her, I knew it, maybe I'm not crazy after all.'_ Though somehow that thought felt less reassuring than when she thought she was just crazy.

"Yeah, I'm Aiden," He spake glancing between the two women. "It's nice to meet you as well."

"Cara I was actually hoping we could have one of those chats today, if you didn't mind of course. Were you two about to go do something? I hope I didn't interrupt you two. If you can't right now, that's fine I could try again another time."

"No, no," Cara shook her head, "It's okay, we were actually just walking home nothing really to do today. So yeah, I'd love to chat."

Ester beamed warmly before turning around to open the back door of the car. "You can throw your bag in the back if you'd like."

"Wait a minute Cara, are you actually going with this woman?" Aiden asked.

She nodded her head in response turning to him, "Yeah, it'll be alright, I told her we could talk, so it would be wrong if I went back on my word now. I'll be fine." She said slugging her bag off her back and tossing it into the back seat. Ester closed the door once her bag was in, hopped into the driver side seat and turned the car on. Cara walked around the car and held the door open for a moment before getting in she looked over to Aiden, "I'll let you know when I make it back home." With that said she got in the car closing the door behind her.

Ester rolled the window down to car and spoke to Aiden one last time before driving off, "I'll have her back in a few hours, it was nice meeting you again." Ester pulled away from the curve and headed down the road. Cara watched Aiden in the rear view mirror until she could no longer see him, and when his figure faded from sigh she sat back in her seat and looked out the window.

 _Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a comment below please and thank you. Constructive criticism always_ _welcome._


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